By Janelle Stecklein | Editor
“In an industry like fire trucks, where you’ve seen skyrocketing prices, backlogs, deteriorating quality over a period of more than half a decade, we should be seeing a large number of new manufacturers cropping up. We should see smaller manufacturers expanding, and yet that’s not happening.” - Basel Musharbash of the fire truck manufacturing industry
Oklahoma Secretary of State’s Office is pictured on July 21, 2026. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)
By Barbara Hoberock
The Governor’s Office would not say Tuesday whether Oklahoma’s secretary of state will remain on the job following an arrest for public intoxication.
Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office did not respond to a request for comment regarding the Friday arrest of Secretary of State Benjamin M. Lepak, who Stitt appointed to the post in October.
Lepak, 42, of Edmond, was arrested Friday on a municipal charge of public intoxication after Edmond police said they encountered him at about 10:45 p.m. on foot outside the drive-through window of a McDonald’s, according to a police report.
Gentner Drummond, left, and Mike Mazzei are pictured with their wives. Both are running for the Republican nomination for Oklahoma governor. (Photos by Nuria Martinez-Keel and Ace Cuervo/For Oklahoma Voice)
By Nuria Martinez-Keel
Millions more dollars have poured into an already historically expensive GOP primary race for Oklahoma governor leading up to an Aug. 25 runoff.
Oklahoma State Capitol Building (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
By Barbara Hoberock
As the Aug. 25 primary runoff approaches, the top Republican gubernatorial candidates are engaged in a war of words over campaign funding and a presidential endorsement.
State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd presents the findings of her office's second audit of Tulsa Public Schools on Tuesday at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
By Nuria Martinez-Keel
A former bond director at Tulsa Public Schools wrongly profited from millions of dollars meant for student facilities, a state audit alleged Tuesday.
A decades-old pumper truck owned by the Providence Fire Department in Rhode Island, where it’s used for events and ceremonies. Providence is one of dozens of cities accusing fire truck manufacturers of conspiring to suppress the supply of trucks, raising prices and driving up delivery times. (Photo by Janine L. Weisman/Rhode Island Current)
By Anna Claire Vollers
Over 60 cities, counties and fire departments across the nation — from Milwaukee to San Diego, Pittsburgh to Tampa — say the country’s three biggest fire truck manufacturers have conspired to suppress competition, resulting in skyrocketing prices for fire trucks and repair parts, and yearslong manufacturing delays.
ICYMI
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